Girls and Golf
by suburbs
Summary: After Penny, Nick decided that girls and golf didn't mix. But someone is making him rethink the rule. JONAS. Macy/Nick
1. Golf and Girls

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS._

_A/N: Watching the first episode on the airplane got me thinking about Penny and Macy again – and golf. I got the idea of this from the Macy/Nick chapter in Range of Emotion, but it is not related. I just wanted to look at the similarities between the two characters who seem so different on the surface. I don't know a huge amount about golf, so please forgive any mistakes._

_Dedication: Happy Birthday to Fabled Diamond!_

In theory, Penny should have been perfect for him. She was pretty, she sang and played the guitar, and she loved golf. If Nick had been inventing his perfect girl, she would have been exactly like Penny, minus the boyfriend. But then, the reality didn't quite live up to the ideal.

And all it took was one round of golf.

She had meant it when she said she loved the game, but apparently she and her dad played as a way of bonding and used their time on the course to talk. Seriously, she talked the entire time; even when Nick was lining up a shot. The girl wouldn't shut up. By the seventh hole he wanted to jump in the cart and ditch her. By the eleventh hole he was considering shoving his driver cover in her mouth as a gag. By the seventeenth hole, she was grave danger of being drowned in the water hazard. He couldn't concentrate, and his score for the round was eight shots higher than his worst game that year. If he wanted to keep his handicap, there was no way he could ever play with her again.

It was then that he decided that girls and golf didn't mix.

He was pretty sure that the truth applied to other sports as well (certainly to Stella who whined annoyingly when faced with anything more physically challenging than Wii bowling), but golf was definitely a no-girl zone.

Apparently Macy Misa hadn't gotten that message, he realized as he approached the driving range because there she was with three baskets of balls. He considered turning around and leaving right then (Macy with a club in her hand was reason enough in itself without the girl/golf philosophy violation), but Kevin and Joe had dropped him off and wouldn't be back for an hour. Instead, he took a deep breath, grabbed his clubs and basket of balls and headed over to the range. Maybe if he was lucky, she wouldn't notice he was there.

'Hi, Nick!"

Apparently he wasn't that lucky.

"What are you doing here? Are you going to hit some balls? I can't believe I'm going to hit golf balls next to a member of…" Nick winced as he heard Macy began to babble excitedly while waving her club around. He decided to cut her off before she got too far into one of her JONAS fan girl moments and brained someone accidentally.

"Hi, Macy. Yes, I'm going to try and hit a few balls." He put extra emphasis on the word 'try', hoping she'd get the hint that he didn't feel like talking.

"Oh, right," Macy said sounding a little disappointed. "Well, I'll just let you get started then."

Nick felt a little guilty as he watched her turn back to the range. Well, guilty and really glad he had picked a spot out of the reach of her club. Brushing off the feeling, he began to stretch a little, watching Macy as he twisted.

She took a deep, centering breath and then settled into position. He watched in awe as she swung the club and hit a gorgeous shot – straight and long. She made it look effortless. Stretching forgotten, he stood and stared as she grabbed another ball. He held his breathe, sure that the last shot had to have been a fluke. But then she hit three more like it in a row.

"Wow," he finally muttered.

She turned and looked at him in surprise. "Did you say something?"

Nodding slowly, he replied, "I said 'wow'. You're really good." He glanced down at the three large baskets at her feet. "But I guess you would be if you hit that many balls regularly. Don't your arms get tired?"

Macy giggled. "These aren't all for the range." She gestured towards the baskets. "One is for long shots. One is to practice chipping. And the other is for the putting green."

"Wow."

She shrugged. "I usually come three or four times a week to keep in shape for the season." Frowning, she added, "Last year I was ranked sixth in the state. I know that if I put in a little more effort, I can break into the top five."

"But didn't Kevin tell me you had scored the most points in the state in basketball? And Stella said something about you breaking the regional backstroke record?"

Macy nodded.

"How many sports do you play?" Nick asked slowly.

"Officially, I think about twelve. But a few of them are just for fun. I'm really only serious about six or seven of them?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "How do you train for that many sports?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I would have thought you'd be the last person to ask me that."

"Huh?"

"How do you play so many instruments and sing and write songs?"

"I work really hard and focus on what's important and try not to get distracted," he said automatically. "And I practice a lot."

"Exactly. It's the same for me and sports. Plus, I really hate to lose," she said with an edge to her voice, very unlike her JONAS fan girl squeak.

That was definitely something the two of them had in common. Nick knew he was extraordinarily competitive, but from the look in her eyes, she might have him beat in that department. At that moment, he was pretty sure he had underestimated Macy Misa. He had written her off as some klutzy, crazy fan girl without taking the time to get to know her. She was definitely more than he had originally imagined.

"Me too," he said grinning.

"Macy! Thank goodness!"

Nick turned towards the voice to see a balding, middle aged man standing behind him.

"Hi Mr. Franklin. How are you?" Macy chirped, all traces of the intense competitor gone.

"Not good, I'm afraid. I'm slicing again."

Macy smiled at the man fondly. "You know what you're doing wrong, Mr. Franklin."

"I'm looking up?"

"You're looking up," Macy confirmed. "Remember, you need to keep your head down."

"But I like to see how far I hit it," the man whined.

"You don't need to see it to know how far it went. You can tell by the feel of the ball on the club and the sound it makes. And I know you don't' play alone. Get one of your friends to watch where it went for you." She made eye contact with the older man before adding, "You can do it, Mr. Franklin."

Sighing, he said, "You're right. I know you're right. I'll try." Smiling at her he added, "Thanks, Macy."

"Any time."

As the man walked away, Nick gave Macy a questioning look.

"I work here during the summer – caddying and giving lessons," she explained before turning back to hit another ball.

He bent over and picked up a ball as he thought about the contrast between the bubbly girl giving advice to the man a moment ago, the hyperventilating fan girl he saw at school, and the graceful athlete hitting balls a few feet away from him. It was hard to believe they were all the same girl.

"I'm done here," Macy said happily. "I'm going to go grab the putting green while it's still open."

"Oh," he said, sounding a little disappointed. "Okay. Have fun."

"You too!"

As she turned and walked away, Nick glanced down at his watch and groaned. He'd already been there forty minutes, and he hadn't even hit a ball yet because he had been so caught up in watching Macy. He lined up a shot and winced as it bounced and landed ten feet in front of him. He looked over towards the putting green and was grateful that she appeared to be too focused on her own practicing to have noticed how bad the shot had been. After a few more missed shots, he had finally gotten into a decent rhythm when he was interrupted.

"You must be in the zone," he heard a voice say behind him. "You don't usually hit two baskets."

Nick gritted his teeth and turned to address his older brothers. "This is actually my first."

Joe looked around with amusement at the empty driving range and his brother's basket which was still half full. "Had to wait in a long line, then?"

"No. I just got distracted." His eyes flickered over to the green where Macy was just sinking a six foot putt.

Joe began to laugh, but Kevin looked at his brothers in confusion. "I don't get it."

"Little Nicky here decided to hit on girls instead of hitting balls today."

Kevin looked scandalized, "Nick! You know Mom told us we should never hit girls."

"Not hit them, Kev. Hit on them. As in flirt," Joe clarified.

"I wasn't flirting with Macy," Nick insisted. "I was just watching her play. She's really good."

"Sure you were," Joe teased.

Nick rolled his eyes and ignored his brother. The three boys stood watching Macy sink another putt.

"She is really good," Kevin said admiringly. "I wonder if she'd give me some pointers. My putting has been weak lately."

"Your putting has always been weak," Nick snapped. For some reason, he bristled a little at the idea of Macy and Kevin on the golf course together.

"True," Kevin said, not the least bit offended by his brother's comment.

"I have things to do," Joe said as he grabbed a club out of his younger brother's bag, "so how about Kevin and I help you finish up this basket here."

"Cool!" Kevin exclaimed. "Let's see who can hit the ball farthest."

With one last look over at Macy, Nick grabbed a ball and lined it up, determined to win; being around his brothers always brought out his competitive side. But in the back of his mind, he began to reconsider his no girls and golf rule.

Maybe you just needed the right girl to make it work.


	2. Driving and Putting

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS._

_A/N: First, faerietaleredux__‏__ is awesome and amazing and deserves lots of thanks for putting up with me (oh, and betaing this chapter). Second, I'm pretending that last night's episode didn't happen. At least the Macy part. Yup, Macy isn't scary and she doesn't make poor, helpless high school boys dress up like Nick. Denial is a wonderful thing. _

Nick was not going to the driving range to see Macy. He assured himself that if he had wanted to see the petite brunette, he would have asked her which days she practiced. Since he hadn't asked, he was obviously here to improve his game. Sure, he found this recently discovered side of Macy to be interesting, but it was perfectly normal to find your friends interesting.

And the sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw the empty range must mean that he was hungry. And he bought a second basket of balls so that he could practice putting and not because he was stalling for time, hoping she'd show up.

Because the only reason to come to the driving range was to become a better golfer.

And based on his putting, Nick could really use the help. For some reason all his shots ended up short and to the right. After the tenth miss in a row, his teeth were clenched and he could feel the anger building inside. He was never this bad at sports.

Hell, he was never this bad at anything, except maybe dating.

"Having a tough day?"

He froze. He would recognize that perky voice anywhere. Sure enough, when he looked up, there was Macy standing in front of him with a huge smile on her face.

"I can't seem to sink a put today," he grumbled.

She gave him an appraising look before replying, "Your grip is off. You need to move your left hand a little."

Nick looked down at his hands and back up at the girl in front of him. He moved his left hand, but it didn't feel right.

"No," Macy said quickly. "Not like that."

She took a step towards him and leaned over, placing her hand on his fingers, her hair brushing against his arm. He let her adjust his hold until his fingers were in a position that satisfied her. All he could think was that he must be really hungry because his stomach was doing something weird and fluttery. Maybe he needed to start carrying around snacks.

At last she stood up and smiled again.

"Try now."

Nick nodded, releasing the breath that he hadn't even known he was holding. Leaning over, he glanced towards the hole to make sure he had things lined up. He swung lightly and was delighted to see the ball roll gently forward and fall into the cup.

"Perfect," Macy gushed, patting him on the back.

"Thanks," he said gratefully. There was no doubt about it; Macy was definitely the exception to the no girls and golf rule. He had been about to give up and walk away, and she had managed to fix his shot in a few seconds. She was truly amazing.

"Now you just need to keep practicing it like that until it becomes second nature."

Before Nick could respond, he heard someone calling Macy's name. Glancing up, he saw a man who looked vaguely familiar waving at her.

"Hi, Mr. Franklin," Macy said cheerfully.

"Macy! Just who I was looking for," the man said affectionately. "I wanted to say thank you again for the advice the other day. I did what you said and yesterday I beat my personal best by three strokes."

Nick realized it was the guy from the driving range the other day – the one with the slice.

"That's great," she replied earnestly. "I knew you could do it!"

"Anyway," Mr. Franklin continued, "last night I was telling my nephew about you."

"The one who plays golf for Stanford?" Macy interrupted.

"Exactly. He's coming out to visit next week and would love to meet you. So I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner while he's here."

Nick clenched his teeth. He couldn't believe what was happening – the old guy was trying to set Macy up with his college nephew in front of him. Could the man not see he was standing right there? For all he knew, Nick could be her boyfriend. Hadn't he seen them together at the golf course together twice in one week?

"I'd love to," Macy replied.

"Great. I'll have my wife call your mom to set it up." Mr. Franklin then reached over and patted Nick on the shoulder. "I won't keep you from your lesson any longer. You do what Macy tells you, young man, and your game will improve in no time. She's one of a kind."

The man's comment served to deflate some of Nick's indignation. Apparently, he thought Nick was one of Macy's students. He supposed that was a reasonable assumption, but he still wasn't too thrilled about the situation.

"Thanks, Mr. Franklin." As soon as the older man was out of ear shot, Macy said, "Well, that was nice of him."

"To try and set you up with his nephew?"

Macy's eyes went wide. "What? No! To invite me to dinner. He's not trying to set me… I'm sure he just thought since we both play…" Nick watched as his words registered. "He's trying to set me up with his nephew."

"Yup."

Macy's voice started to climb higher as she began to panic, "Nick, my mom would never let me date a college guy. What am I going to do? And the Franklins are so nice and it would be rude to cancel now after I said I'd go."

Nick felt guilty about causing her stress. "You know what, I could be wrong. Maybe they all just want to talk about golf." He reached out and put an arm around her shoulder reassuringly. "And if he does ask you out, just tell him your mom won't let you date older guys. Or say you're already seeing someone."

Macy looked up at him with her huge innocent eyes and said earnestly, "But I couldn't lie to him."

Nick tried to tell himself that the surge of anger he was feeling was totally justified. There was just something wrong about an older guy hitting on his friend; anyone would be upset by it. Macy was sweet and innocent, and the idea of some big-shot college golfer trying to take advantage of her made him want to hit something. But he knew that if he didn't calm down, he was just going to upset her again, which he really didn't want to do. Her eyes got all big and teary and her lips trembled, which made him feel really helpless.

For a brief moment, Nick considered offering himself or one of his brothers as a decoy boyfriend, but he shook off the thought. That sort of thing only caused trouble. Instead he said, "You know what? Dinner isn't for a week. Why don't we go hit some balls, and we can worry about it later?"

Macy gave him an appreciative smile. He kept his arm firmly around her shoulders, grabbing his bag with his free hand before steering her in the direction of the driving range.

"Nick?" Macy said as they walked quietly together.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing Saturday morning?"

After mentally reviewing his schedule he replied, "Nothing that I know of. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could play a round. If you wanted."

There were those weird hunger pangs again. He smiled down at her, "Sounds good, Mace."

He was rewarded with one of her giant grins and a feeling that he really needed to get something to eat soon because know he was starting to feel light-headed too.


	3. Lessons and Losing

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS._

_A/N: In case some of you missed it, I would recommend maybe-joleisaa's episode tag "I'll Meet You There." It was a much more constructive response to the Macy/Randolph issue than my whining. _

Nick had been really looking forward to Saturday morning, although he had done his best to appear nonchalant on his way out the door. It never paid to let his brothers know he was excited about something because that guaranteed teasing, especially when a girl was involved. Not that he was excited about the round of golf because Macy was a girl. He was just looking forward to a nice game with a friend.

He was meeting Macy at the driving range so they could warm up before teeing off. When he arrived, she was standing there waiting for him with a basket of balls. He smiled at her as he dropped his bag and grabbed a club.

"So did Mrs. Franklin ever call?" Nick asked casually after he had hit a few balls. He was hoping (for Macy's sake, obviously) that it had been one of those spur of the moment gestures that never materialized. He didn't want her to get stuck in an awkward situation with some slimy college guy.

"Yeah, she called that night. I'm going over on Tuesday." Macy gave Nick a curious look as he swung and topped the ball, knocking it off the mat so it rolled forward a few feet. "Why are you gripping the club so tightly?" She put down her club and walked towards him, putting her hands on his shoulders for an impromptu massage. "You need to relax if you want a decent swing."

Nick tried to relax. He knew she wanted to help, but somehow having her hands on him was just making it worse. Taking a deep breath, he mumbled, "Thanks. I think that maybe I need to stretch a little more."

"That's a great idea," Macy chirped. "Do you want me to stretch with you?"

He tried to keep his eyes off of her body as he felt his mouth go dry at the thought watching her stretch. It was wrong to objectify your golfing partner and friend no matter how cute she looked in her plaid golf shorts. He was struck by how unfair it was that guys were so controlled by their hormones; hormones and golf just didn't go together. It was a game of concentration and control and finesse. "That's okay. You keep hitting those balls. It'll just take a second."

"So are you looking forward to the dinner?" Nick asked as he leaned down to touch his toes. He wasn't sure why he was so fixated on this dinner thing, but it had been on his mind all week.

Macy looked confused, so he elaborated. "With the Franklins."

"Oh!" she said, obviously caught off guard by the question. "Sort of. I mean, he plays for Stanford which has one of the most amazing college golf programs in the country. I've been trying to figure out which sports to focus on when we graduate, so I have a lot of questions he might be able to answer."

When she hesitated, he prompted her, "But…"

"But the potential set up makes me nervous."

Standing up, Nick responded, "Don't worry about it. It'll be fine." When he saw that platitudes weren't working he tried something else. "And if it gets bad, sneak into the bathroom, call us, and we'll mount a rescue mission."

That made her giggle. "Joe would love that, wouldn't he? I can picture him trying to decide between James Bond and cat burglar."

"I'm pretty sure Stella's already made him both outfits, so we should have you covered." Grinning at her, he added, "You ready to get started?"

Nick came off the eighteenth hole in a pretty good mood. Macy had given him some pointers, and his game had really improved. He was vaguely aware that she was having a better game than he was, and he had still managed to enjoy himself, which was saying something.

Laughing, he asked her, "So what was the final score?"

Avoiding his eyes, she replied, "It doesn't really matter, does it?"

Suddenly some of his happiness began to drain away. Either the game had been much closer than she had expected, or she had creamed him and was afraid he was going to be upset. For some reason, neither of those options made him feel very cheerful. Narrowing his eyes at his friend, he held out his hand, "Give it here, Misa."

She hesitated but finally handed him the score card. Glancing down at the scores, he was pleased to see that his back nine beat his personal best. And then he saw her score and frowned. He had known she was doing better than he was, but he had no idea that she was destroying him. It wasn't even close. How had he not noticed?

"You did great, Nick," Macy said quietly.

"Great?" Nick snorted. "You crushed me."

"Of course I did," Macy said matter-of-factly. "But for a musician who plays golf occasionally as a hobby, you had a great round."

He knew she meant well, but somehow that didn't really make him feel better. He prided himself on being athletic, and being beaten by a girl, even a girl as amazing as Macy, stung.

"Not really helping," he muttered.

"Stop being silly," Macy admonished. "We had fun out there; don't start pouting now." When he didn't respond, she bit her lip for a moment before continuing, "Think of it this way, if I sang the way you played golf, I'd be up for a solo in the school choir, but if you played golf like I sang, they wouldn't let you near the course. So cheer up and get over yourself."

Nick stood there in shock for a moment. He couldn't believe that JONAS' super fan had just told him to get over himself. But thinking about what she had said, he knew she was right. He was being an idiot. She had spent most of the morning helping him improve his game, and she deserved better than having to deal with a moody rock star. She beat him fair and square, and he was just being a bad sport.

Taking a deep breath, he look up at her and smiled, "You're right. Sorry about that." He handed her back the score card, "Great game, Macy. I had a really good time, which is probably the only time I've ever said that after losing."

"Really?" the brunette asked with a hint of insecurity.

"Really," Nick replied. "If I promise not to be an idiot next time, do you think maybe we could do this again?"

He felt that strange flutter in his stomach again as she smiled happily up at him. He should really go get something to eat on the way home.

"Of course," she gushed.

Before he had a chance to even think it through, he heard himself saying, "How about we go grab something to eat. My treat."

"You don't have to pay," Macy said shyly.

"I want to," he said. And surprisingly he meant it. He really wanted to spend more time with her. "Think of it as your prize for winning."

Macy froze at his words. Then, blinking she seemed to come out of her trance. "Dinner with a member of JONAS? That's some prize." Grinning, she added, "We should definitely play more often."

Chuckling, Nick picked up their bags and started towards the car. He could live with that.


	4. Phone Calls and Jealousy

_Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS._

_A/N: I skipped Nick and Macy's dinner, so I sort of expect a bit of backlash. But this was the series of moments that I had inspiration for. Such that it is. On another note, to anyone who has sent me something to beta – I apologize it is taking so long. I can't shake the jet lag and after being gone for three weeks, my real life has sort of backed up. But I'm trying, I promise._

Nick had been staring at his phone all night to the point where his usually oblivious brothers had actually picked up on his behavior.

"Joe, why is Nick watching his phone like that? Do you think he's afraid it's broken? Cause he could just ask one of us to call him."

"There's only one reason a guy pathetically sits staring at his phone all night," he heard Joe reply mockingly.

"Oh," Kevin said in response.

Nick silently began to count in his head. He figured he'd make it to about five before Kevin broke.

One, two, three, four…

"I don't get it."

"A girl," Joe answered with an infuriating air of superiority. "Our poor little Nicky must be expecting a phone call from a girl."

Nick rolled his eyes and continued to ignore the conversation taking place around him. He had found that sometimes the best way to deal with his brothers was to pretend like they weren't there.

"I don't think she's called," Kevin said in a stage whisper.

That did it; he needed to get out of the house. "Brilliant observation, Sherlock," Nick snapped at his oldest brother. He picked up the offending phone and headed towards the fire pole to make his escape. "If Mom asks, I'm going out for a drive. I'll be back soon."

He would have liked to go for a walk, but the legion of fan girls that tended to camp outside the firehouse made that impossible. But he had recently gotten his driver's license, which offered him some form of freedom. And he needed to get out of the house and stop worrying about Macy.

Because it was Tuesday night.

It was eight o'clock on Tuesday night, which meant Macy was currently off with college boy. And he had told her to call if she needed help or some advice or a ride home. She'd insisted that she'd be fine, but had promised to call when she got done to tell him how it went.

She hadn't called and it was eight o'clock. How long did it take to eat dinner? Shouldn't they be done by now? And why did the entire situation bother him so much?

Sitting in his car in the garage, he began to bang his head against the steering wheel. Cause he was pretty sure that he already knew why this was bugging him. He had actually realized it after he took Macy to dinner because when she hugged him and said goodnight, that stupid fluttery feeling had come back; since he had just eaten five slices of pizza, he could no longer pretend it was hunger. It was Macy. Being around Macy gave him stupid butterflies.

He was a little surprised that it had taken him that long to figure it out, but he had always thought of her as their scary super fan and it had never occurred to him that he could think of her as anything else. But there was a lot more to her. She was spunky and pretty and competitive and not afraid to put him in his place. And she gave him butterflies when she smiled at him. Or touched his hand. Or said anything nice about him.

And she was currently having dinner with some big-shot college golfer who was probably offering to help her with her putting right now. The thought made him grit his teeth.

He was pulled from his unpleasant musings by the sound of his phone ringing. At first he was sure it was his brothers calling to harass him (and find out who the girl was), but when he looked down he was delighted to see it was Macy.

"Hello," he answered, in what he hoped was a casual, relaxed manner that did not give away that he had spent the past three hours waiting for her to call.

"Hi Nick," Macy said happily.

"How was dinner?"

"It was great! I just got home."

"How about I come over, and you can tell me about it." Nick couldn't believe he had actually suggested that.

"That's sweet, but you don't have to do that."

"I want to," he said sincerely. "I was just getting in my car to go for a drive to escape from my brothers, so now instead of just driving around aimlessly, I can come visit you."

"Oh. Okay. Why do you need to escape from Joe and Kevin?" He could picture her biting her lip. She was cute when she was confused.

Nick certainly didn't feel like explaining the teasing from earlier, so he went with a more generic reason. "We spend a lot of time together, and sometimes I just need a break from all that togetherness."

"That makes sense… I guess."

"So I'll see you in a few minutes?"

Nick used the short drive to the Misa's residence to try and formulate some sort of plan. He figured he'd play it cool – be a supportive friend and listen to her talk about her night. And if the opportunity arose, maybe he'd ask her out. As he approached her front door, he took a deep breath and knocked.

"You must be Nick!" The woman who opened the door gushed. She looked like an older version of Macy with long dark hair and kind eyes. "It's so good to meet you. Macy talks about you and your brothers all the time." Turning back into the house, she yelled, "Macy, your guest is here."

Nick could hear Macy scrambling down the stairs as he walked into the house. He thought she looked adorable as she skidded into the entryway.

"Hi," she said breathlessly.

"Hi," he replied with a smirk, earning him an eye roll in response.

"Macy, dear," her mother interjected as she headed into what appeared to be the family room, "why don't you go show Nick your room. I'm sure he'd love to see all your JONAS stuff."

Macy's face turned a brilliant shade of red before she mumbled, 'Why don't we go hang out in the kitchen? You don't want to see my room."

"Actually," he replied casually, "I'd love to see it. I've never been in a fan's room."

She looked at him incredulously before shrugging. "Okay."

She headed up the stairs and stopped before the first room at the top of the stairs. Pushing open the door, she gestured for him to go in ahead of her. "Here it is."

He took one step inside and froze. The room was literally wallpapered with posters and pictures of him and his brothers. There was even a mosaic of their last album cover in the corner and a stand-up cut out of all three of them over by the closet. He felt Macy come up behind him and say, "So, the kitchen?"

He nodded without even saying anything, slightly traumatized.

"Are you okay?" She asked, obviously worried.

He blinked a few times before giving her a weak smile, "At least there weren't any posters above your bed."

"Yeah, I took those down when you guys showed up at Horace Mantis. It seemed sort of disrespectful." She paused for a moment before adding, "Just so you know, I'll probably take most of that down as soon as you leave. That was pretty horrifying."

He reached out and patted her shoulder, "It's fine, Mace. That was just even more JONAS than I'd imagined."

Shrugging, she joked, "You can never have too much JONAS. How about we go to the kitchen now and pretend that never happened?"

"It's a deal. You can tell me about your evening."

He followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the counter as she opened the refrigerator door. She peaked inside and asked, "Do you want a Diet Coke?"

"Sure."

As she pulled out two cans, she plopped down on the stool next to him. "It was great actually! Josh was really helpful. He told me all about the Stanford program and gave me some insight into the collegiate system." She opened her can and took a sip before continuing. "And he made some really good points in favor of golf that I hadn't considered. Like the fact that there is a great established professional circuit for women, and golfers have so much control over their lives. A golfer can live anywhere. I wouldn't have to worry about waking up and finding I've been traded someplace weird like Sacramento."

'We've played Sacramento," Nick said, taking a sip of his own soda. "It's not that bad."

Macy smiled at him. "And Josh told me he'd talk to the woman's coach about me. Isn't that sweet?"

Nick wanted to gag. Apparently the guy hadn't wasted any time in moving in on Macy. The only trick he seemed to be missing was asking her for help or advice on his game.

"And he said he's been having some trouble getting out of sand traps recently, so I'm going to meet him tomorrow to see if I can give him any pointers."

Bingo!

"I thought you said you wouldn't date a college guy," Nick accused, vaguely aware that he was probably overreacting.

Macy wrinkled her nose in confusion, "It's not a date."

"Of course it's a date. He asked you to do something tomorrow, didn't he? No guy asks a girl he just met to do something unless it's a date!"

"Nick, Josh does not want to date me."

"Macy, stop being so naïve. You're pretty and smart and talented. What guy wouldn't want to date you?" Nick said, his voice getting louder with each sentence. He could feel his anger and frustration building.

"How about a guy who was holding hands with his blonde, beautiful volleyball playing college girlfriend throughout the entire dinner conversation?"

"Oh." He felt like an idiot. He had been practically yelling at her, and now she looked totally confused and maybe just a little bit mad. They sat in awkward silence, Nick mentally kicking himself for letting his jealousy get the better of him.

"You know," she said hesitantly, "it almost seemed like you were jealous of Josh or something. Which is absurd because of course you're not jealous. I mean, you're Nick of JONAS and I'm just Macy. Why on earth would you be jealous? But if you were someone else…"

He thought about laughing it off with her since she seemed so willing to give him a way out, but that would just add to the already absurd level of clichéness surrounding their current situation. Instead, he decided to be honest with her.

"Of course I was jealous, Mace," he sighed. "Even a rock start can be jealous."

He heard her give a small gasp before asking, "But why?"

His eyes opened wide with shock. How did she still not get it? "Because I hated the idea of you golfing with any other guy." She raised an eyebrow at this, so he tried again. "Because I really like you."

"You do?"

"I do," he said sincerely.

"Like, like me or just like me?" She asked with uncertainty.

He decided that the only way this painful conversation was going to end was if he spelled it out directly. "I like, like you. As in I would like very much to take you on a real date."

"Nick of JONAS wants to date me," she said slowly, as if she was still trying to process the information.

He gave her one of his rare smiles, "Nick of JONAS would like very much to date you."

"Wow," she whispered as he leaned towards her. Just as he was about to kiss her, she pulled away from him.

"I would love to date you, Nick, but one thing; I need you to be okay with me golfing with other guys."

"What?"

"Because sports are very important to me, and if I want to really improve, I need to play against the best competitors out there. And sometimes that may be a guy. And you need to trust me and be okay with that."

He had never liked her more than he did at that moment. Most girls would have given into the moment and worried about the issue later, but Macy was calling him on it. Because of course, he would be an idiot and a jerk to try and keep her from playing with anyone she wanted.

"I can live with that," he said a little breathlessly.

"You sure? You're not going to freak out on me?"

He shook his head. "Can I go ahead and kiss you now?"

She answered by leaning in and brushing her lips against his. The butterflies came back in full force as he placed one hand into her hair and deepened the kiss, all thoughts of jealousy and golf disappearing.


End file.
